1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector accommodating a wire connected with a terminal fitting in a bent state and to a method of assembling such a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-139249 and FIG. 9 herein disclose a known connector accommodating a wire connected with a terminal fitting in a bent state. With reference to FIG. 9, this connector has a housing 101 that accommodates a terminal fitting 102. The housing 101 has a tubular holder 103 that extends substantially at a right angle from the rear end of the housing 101. A wire 104 is connected with the rear end of the terminal fitting 102 and is bent in an L-shape in the holder 103.
The connector of FIG. 9 is used to arrange the bent wire 104 in a narrow space. For example, the connector of FIG. 9 may be used to arrange a wire for a vehicle-mounted audio device. A bending curvature of a bent portion 105 of the wire 104 desirably is made longer to cope with the narrow space. However, the wire 104 exerts a resilient restoring force that increases as the bending curvature is increased. Thus, the posture of the terminal fitting 102 in the housing 101 is inclined by the resilient restoring force of this wire 104, and the inclined terminal fitting 102 presents a problem of increased frictional resistance during connection with a mating terminal (not shown).
Some wires 104 have a four-layered structure of an inner conductor 104a, a core 104b, an outer conductive shielding layer 104c, and a sheath 104d. A wire 104 with this construction has a high bending rigidity. Thus, frictional resistance between the terminal fitting 102 and the mating terminal is increased further because the resilient restoring force of the wire 104 is larger.
An external pushing or pulling force may act on the wire 104 drawn out of the connector in a longitudinal direction (vertical direction in FIG. 9). Thus, the wire 104 is displaced in the longitudinal direction in the holder 103. The external force on the wire 104 in longitudinal direction acts also inclines the posture of the terminal fitting 102 about the bent portion 105.
The invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object is to suppress or prevent the terminal fitting from being inclined.